Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Silver-Haired Girl
As expected of a Demon Lord.
She was incredibly strong.
And so cute, that seeing her might make adventurers think:
“I’m going to side with the cute Demon Lord!”
It’s not out of the question that some adventurers might defect.
I recall a recent case where a game made the final boss cute, leading some players to camp in front of the final dungeon to prevent others from completing it.
While mulling over such thoughts in the pitch-black darkness, several notifications about the battle results against the <Demon Lord> appeared in front of Sora.
| ?You have been defeated in battle against the ?Demon Lord??
Your “Life points” have decreased from 120 to 119. Experience points corresponding to your battle contribution have been acquired. Your level has increased from 1 to 15. Your strength has increased from 1 to 15. You have gained 150 skill points. The proficiency of your equipped one-handed sword has increased from 1 to 17.
You have acquired the attack skill ?Guard Break?. You have acquired the attack skill ?Dual Nail?. You have acquired the defensive skill ?Sword Guard?. You have acquired the attack skill ?Triple Stream?. You have acquired the unique skill ?Lucifer?.
With the acquisition of ?Lucifer?, you gain the following support skills: Support skill ?Magic Resistance II? Support skill ?Physical Resistance II? Support skill ?Status Ailment Resistance II? Support skill ?Insight? Support skill ?Perception? |
The concept of “Life Points” wasn’t entirely clear, but it seemed that even after losing a battle, you still gained experience points.
That’s a useful piece of information.
Moreover, acquiring several skills was significant.
He especially wanted to check the unique skill ?Lucifer? later.
Looking at the list of acquired skills, Sora thought again.
To be level 15 already, even though he hasn’t even reached the starting point…
From what he checked, the top players in this game were only around level 11.
Of course, that was based on continuous play for 24 hours since yesterday, not from the results in situations where lives are at stake.
Considering that Sora surpassed that in less than an hour, he felt a bit guilty.
Shinji and Shiro will surely be surprised.
If they found out he reached level 15, they’d probably be so shocked they’d fall over.
While thinking about this, the pitch-black darkness cleared, revealing a vibrant, medieval European-like city that filled his vision.
“…Wow, what a beautiful city.”
He couldn’t help but express his admiration.
In the distance was the giant World Tree, stretching from the ground to the heavens, Yggdrasil, the namesake of this starting royal city, and it was a “new sprout.”
This planet seems to be the soil nurturing ?Yggdrasil?, and despite the long years, the World Tree has only grown to the stage of a new sprout.
The world’s deities claim that the growth is hindered because the Demon Lord Shaitan is plotting an invasion of this world and expanding his power.
So, a summoning spell was performed to call forth someone to defeat the Demon Lord from another world.
Well, it’s the typical story of otherworldly summoning seen in recent fantasy works. This game, Astral Online, follows that scenario concept.
“Hmmm, this really feels like a fantasy setting.”
Looking around, it seemed he was indeed in the “Starting Plaza”, where all players begin their journey.
When turning around, there was the ?Yggdrasil Branch?, a branch of the world tree given to people by the gods as a medium for summoning, showering new adventurers with particles of light as if to welcome them.
It was truly mystical and very beautiful.
After admiring the scene for a moment, Sora shook his head and snapped back to reality.
I need to focus. I’m already quite late for the meeting due to the incident with the Demon Lord.
By now, Shinji and Shiro are probably thinking, “We logged in at the same time, so what is he doing?”
This beautiful scenery shouldn’t be an excuse to dawdle.
Sora shifted his focus and scanned his surroundings.
As expected of the “Starting Plaza”, it was filled with other beginners, all dressed in the standard “Novice Adventurer’s Outfit.”
Despite having been suddenly thrust into a battle with the Demon Lord due to a bug, Sora felt a sense of relief that his respawn point was correctly set back to the starting location.
Now, since he could see the plaza, it was clear that he was indeed at the original starting point.
With that in mind, Sora began searching for his two friends, who had been waiting for him.
Given their personalities, he figured they probably hadn’t changed their avatars much from the default.
So, finding them shouldn’t be too difficult.
…But still, I’m being watched.
A chill ran down Sora’s spine. Ever since he respawned here, he had been constantly feeling a gaze that had been fixed upon him.
And it wasn’t just one or two people.
Looking more closely, it seemed like everyone around was focusing their attention on him.
However, normally, without any skills, only the player names are visible.
Could it be that the aura of being a level 15 strong player is leaking out somehow?
If so, there’s nothing he could do about it.
That’s because he still hasn’t learned any skills for concealing his presence.
On top of that, after losing to the Demon Lord, his body felt slightly different than usual.
His overall field of vision seemed lower, which might be a death penalty effect.
Deciding it would probably fix itself in time, Sora stopped worrying about it.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, he continued scanning the area.
After a while, he finally spotted two familiar figures who had moved away from the crowd and were now looking at him like the other adventurers.
The tall, handsome guy with short black hair, standing at 185 cm and whose player name was “Shin”, was likely Shinji.
The boy with brown hair styled in a spiky, friendly manner, whose player name was “Rou”, was probably Shiro.
As expected, their appearances hadn’t been altered at all. Both of them were dressed in the same simple long-sleeve shirt and pants as Sora, with a normal sword strapped to their waists.
Observing them carefully, the ?Insight? skill Sora had just acquired activated automatically.
Unintentionally peeking at their statuses, Sora saw that both of them were level 1, as expected.
This meant that the battle with the Demon Lord was either a bug or some kind of bonus event.
Although he couldn’t share the joy of leveling up with them, there was still a way to enjoy the game.
If his friends knew that he had reached level 15 while they were still at level 1, they would definitely be surprised.
First, Sora approached them with an apologetic look for being late and immediately apologized.
“Sorry for making you wait, both of you!”
His voice came out sounding a bit like a girl’s, perhaps because he was slightly nervous.
Amidst the murmurs of the surrounding adventurers, Shin and Rou exchanged glances and said:
“Are you sure you’re not confusing us with someone else?”
“We’re supposed to meet with our close friend, but we don’t know any cute girls like you…”
“A girl?”
Sora’s thoughts came to a halt.
What was going on?
Realizing the situation, Sora finally understood his mistake.
He was now looking up at them from quite a bit lower than usual.
His height must have been reduced to about 150 cm.
And then, Sora had been feeling something against his back for a while. It turned out that his hair had grown down to his waist and, on top of that, it had changed from black to silver.
But what was most shocking was the soft sensation remaining in his hands when he cautiously touched his chest.
In real life, Sora was undeniably male.
When he fought the Demon Lord, he had certainly been in a boy’s form.
Yet now,
—Why has his “gender changed to female”?
He had no idea at all.
Sora was at a loss for words, unable to comprehend the bizarre phenomenon happening to him.
Just then, the support system kicked in and suddenly a status screen appeared, highlighting a single status abnormality:
| ?Demon Lord’s Curse?
Those cursed by Shaitan have their gender reversed and gain the unique skill ?Lucifer?. This curse is permanent and will not be lifted until the Demon Lord who cast it is defeated. |
“U-You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Could this be the “gift” from the Demon Lord?
Sora, who had received such an outrageous present, stood frozen in place, his mind going blank as he faced his bewildered friends.